The presentation can be seen here. As the disclaimer says these cases have had the names and places changed to not be connected to any person living or dead. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGvSJPUaLcU
Abroad Funerals is our newest venture in streamlining the system. Have been in this business for several years we have introduced many systems and standard operating procedures. This results in less time and money spent on running around double handling all the tasks. All you need to do is make a call or email, chat, LINE, Skype, Whatsapp to us and we can guide you through the whole process from making a Will to the funeral.
Beware of hidden costs
Abroad Funerals get many calls regarding the price. Many will tell you an extremely low price and you may commit to this. However, there are many costs that you will know about later on. Police, Embassy, Morgue, transport, fees. Then the temple has 1, 4, or 9 monks, flowers, casket, wreaths, ceremony, electricity, water for guests, flowers, incense, etc. After, there are court fees to get a grant, Embassy fees for translation, courier fees.
Together Thai888 Law & Abroad Funerals saves money
Most importantly it makes sense to give a small quotation fee in the beginning, however the costs will add up. Because when people hear 60,000 baht they are shocked but this is approx 1500 GBP or 1900 USD or 2800 AUD for everything regarding the Funeral costs. This is way below the cost of another country. Therefore, I guarantee you will save time and money by using our services.
Thai888 Law and funeral service with cremation is a one stop office for writing the Will, complete service, application for court probate, body repatriation, contact family friends embassy police, Australian CEO, English, female staff should you require. Sea burial ashes. Why go anywhere else when you can do all with the one company?
Recently, a Missouri man and five others were sentenced to federal prison for their role in a Ponzi-like prepaid funeral scheme that victimized some 97,000 customers in more than 16 states. The scheme caused more than $450 million in losses, smaller or non-existent death benefits for families at their most vulnerable, and huge profits that lined the pockets of the defendants.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, millions of Americans enter into contracts to prearrange their funerals and prepay some or all of the expenses involved. Laws in individual states regulate the industry, and various states have laws to help ensure that these advance payments are available when they’re needed. However, protections vary widely from state to state, sometimes providing a window of opportunity for unscrupulous operators.
That’s just what happened with James “Doug” Cassity and his Missouri-based company called National Prearranged Services Inc. (NPS). As early as 1992 and until 2008, Cassity and the other defendants employed by NPS or affiliated life insurance companies devised and ran a scheme to defraud purchasers of prearranged funeral contracts obtained from NPS. Also victimized were funeral homes that did business with NPS, financial institutions that served as trustees of the prearranged trusts established by NPS for their customers, and state insurance guarantee associations.
In general, here’s what NPS told its customers: After discussing what the customer wanted, a price would be agreed upon and payment accepted. NPS would make arrangements with the customer-designated funeral home. In accordance with state law, the funds would be placed with a third party—depending on the state, that third party would be a financial institution that would put the funds into a trust that could be only used for safe investments (like government-backed securities)…or a life insurance company that would put the funds into a life insurance policy in the name of the customer.
Here’s what NPS didn’t tell its customers: The company didn’t put all of the funds from customers into a trust or life insurance policy, but instead brazenly altered application documents—i.e., changing deposit amounts, naming itself as a beneficiary, converting whole life insurance policies to term life—and used the money for unauthorized purposes like risky investments, payments for existing funeral claims, and personal enrichment. In some instances, defendants even removed money previously placed in trusts and life insurance policies. And NPS routinely lied to state regulators about its practices.
And if that wasn’t bad enough, NPS also purchased large blocks of prearranged funeral contracts from funeral homes that had previously entered into their own prearranged funeral contracts with customers, falsely telling these funeral homes that the contracts would be rolled over into life insurance policies.
The complex case—investigated by three federal agencies, a number of state regulatory agencies, and the Department of Justice—began in 2008 when we received information from several state agencies on the shady practices of NPS and one of its affiliated life insurance companies. It ended in November 2013, when six co-conspirators who took advantage of people’s desire to protect their loved ones upon their own deaths were finally brought to justice.
Protect Yourself and Your Loved Ones
Obviously, before you enter into a contract of any kind, make sure you do your due diligence on the other party (get references, check with the Better Business Bureau, etc.).
But here are some additional issues to consider from the Federal Trade Commission before prepaying for funeral goods and services:
What are you paying for? Are you buying only merchandise, like a casket and vault, or are you purchasing funeral services as well?
What happens to the money you’ve prepaid? States have different requirements for handling funds paid for prearranged funeral services.
What happens to the interest income on money that is prepaid and put into a trust account?
Are you protected if the firm you dealt with goes out of business?
Can you cancel a contract and get a full refund if you change your mind?
What happens if you move to a different area or die while away from home? Some prepaid funeral plans can be transferred, but often at an added cost.
Be sure to tell your family about the plans you’ve made and where your documents are located.
I heard a comment today regarding a one stop company that does all legal work and the presenter said it was unwise to go to a company like that. Really? Thai888 Law prides itself on making it easier for the customer.
They then went on to say that they do everything? I had trouble following the presentation as it jumped from subject to subject.
I can think of many first class and expensive law companies in the Pattaya area that do everything including advertising screens and lock security boxes. These are value added services and it is great for the clients. I am all for it and I believe free enterprise and if you can get an edge on your competition then why not?
The part that made me chuckle is that Thai888 Law has 2 distinct offices that each handle very different work. Through our standard operating procedures (SOP) we can and do control all aspects of legal work in many provinces. If you have systems in place then you can complete any task no matter how complicated AND all under the SAME company banner.
Thai888 Law has expanded over the years into an international legal service. We have the people and the knowledge to deal with an overseas call from another law firm or a frantic relative wanting answers.
Don’t be misled as most of the large companies in the World have merged into a leaner, faster, more cost friendly consumer friendly organisation controlling all aspects of the product. You only have to look at your local Big C store and find that they no longer just sell food items but insurance, electrical items, household furnishings or in other words a one stop shop.
Thai888 Law offers everything to do with Legal Service. This is normal practice. If we get a job that needs a specialist Lawyer then we will retain one. However in 7 years this has never happened. Thai888 Law has grown and just last week we hired another 2 staff that are more than qualified to do the work. Most staff are law graduates and others are studying Law or accounting or another subject that fits into the Thai888 mission statement.
Our clients like the one stop principle particularly if they are calling from overseas and need an English speaking person to answer the call and give them answers to their concerns. One stop. The relief they feel knowing that they can retain our services and work with us through difficult times is enormous.
If you look through our site you will see that we take the issue and carry it through to the end. During this process we deal with local and international governments, offices, people, several different languages and bureaucracies, the police, the family and friends and much much more.
One thing that really stands out is the need for English – a presenter and their company can loose all credibility when they stand up and say excuse me my English is not so good! I understand as my Thai is terrible – that’s why we have 4 English Thai staff and 1 native Australian CEO. If we need another language we have on many occasions used a smart phone to talk and answers questions with clients. I am amazed at how well this translator works an so I give Google and Samsung the thumbs up for their R&D.
Last there is a lot of radio talk at the moment on the taboo subject of death and how to handle it. I must say that Thai888 Law is coming up to its 7th year operating in Pattaya and during that time we forged relationships with Clive Monkhouse from the Allison Monkhouse Australian Company. Many things have happened during this time and one in particular was when Monkhouse had no presence in Thailand. Thai888 Law had been using and marketing the brand for many years thus proving our contractual arrangements with Monkhouse. As there was no Monkhouse, Thai888 Law absorbed this funeral and cremation work into its offices. We put people in place in Bangkok to deal with the Police Forensic Hospital and staff are trained to deal with the Embassies. Trained in arranging and making cremations as per the families request. Even sea burials. In a word we carried on. This relationship still stands although the Monkhouse banner is no more. All funeral, cremation, embassy work is done by Thai888 Law and office 10 is set aside for this work and the CEO Kelvin Bamfield controls this and the grant of probate. And yes we have a mostly female team that can handle things in a sensitive manner.
Thai888 Law does not do fancy advertising – we rely on word of mouth and referrals from previous clients. Check out our Google reviews.
Contact us for any legal matter and we shall do our best.
Jamie Proctor only 54 years old and gone to sudden and to soon
Jeab Thai888 Law Pattaya Director
Khun Kim legal consultant and responsible for preparing legal paperwork for the Pattayacourts.
Thai888 Law had recent referrals from the UK Embassy to help out on foreigners that have unfortunately died in Thailand.
Due to family commitments or financial issues families and friends could not come to Thailand to manage the funeral and cremation of their loved ones.
A few phone calls to get their LINE Skype Messenger or Whats-app account then put us together and talking for as long as it took to resolve issues. Virtually free!!
Family then asks for an invoice to show whats necessary and the costs.
Once the money has been transferred into our account then we can start work with the Police, Morgue, Hospital, Embassy etc.
This has proved very efficient over the past 10 days.
Apart from the emotional aspect of a family member dying there are cost and if these can be minimized
Thai888 Law can assist if you need to get a funeral or cremation done in Thailand and cannot come here.
